Thursday, July 18, 2013

California Stars

July 4, 2013. Back in Texas,
Independence Day festivities are kicking off under a canopy of fireworks,
fireflies, and fire-like temperatures. In
The Netherlands, I sit in my kitchen wearing the same full-time Mom uniform
I’ve been wearing for ten months: jeans, an aging long-sleeved shirt, and an
Old Navy hoodie. The noisy space-heater is running at my feet and clouds hang
dismissively outside my gritty window.
Grey: the color of too many days
in The Netherlands. I search weather.com
for hope. The information is usually
inaccurate. (I imagine an eager, but
incompetent 22-year-old-meterology intern updating Europe’s
forecasts daily). I also turn to the
Dutch weather website, buienradar.nl and cross-reference. Both 5-day forecasts promise glowing orbs of
yellow and numbers creeping up the scales in both Fahrenheit and Celsius. My mood correspondingly brightens. Besides festive Facebook posts and the New
Orleans calendar hanging by my fridge (which, I
happily found at the AmericanBookCenter in The
Hague) – there’s no real indication that I should be
celebrating my home country’s most important historical holiday. Like most of the holidays we’ve celebrated
since we’ve been in The Netherlands, I feel like a solo cheerleader trying to
arouse an audience of a few, but there is a certain freedom in our
isolation. I ignore the actual July 4th
date and plan to celebrate when the weather was more conducive to a
commemoration remotely similar to one I’d attend at home. I matter-of-factly decide that my family is
going to celebrate July 4th, on Saturday, July 6th. To
further my quest for recreation of all things authentically American - I peruse
the American Women’s Club newsletter and find, to my confusion and excitement,
that a USA Day is being hosted by Voorburg, a small town on the outskirts of The
Hague, on Saturday.
I’m not entirely sure what that means. . . but it’s perfect timing for
my delayed Independence Day plans! (It
must be a sign!) I am in an over-committal mood fueled by the
promise of a kiss of sunshine, and also decide to invite a few American
friends over on Saturday night. Although V
has grilled multiple times in the rain, I was looking forward to a drizzle-less
BBQ complete with burgers, watermelon mojitos, and tiny plastic American flags
I spotted at the junk store in Leiden.

E-mails sent to
friends, visions of my sunny Americanized Saturday dancing through my head, I
decided to further research the USA Day on-line. I soon discovered that Voorburg was
celebrating a 20-year sister-city celebration with Temecula,
California.
“Temecula!!” I say outloud to myself.
(Or to the dog - the kids are having naptime). I practically hyperventilated under the
cloudy pillow that was incessantly smothering my excitement. My dog, Tyler
looks at me quizzically. Temecula is
home to Ponte Winery. It’s a beautiful
place (which I’ve visited before) but more than that - Ponte Winery is where my
brother is getting married in just a few months! Temecula, California
(when you’re living half-way across the world) is like. . . referencing your family’s
backyard or something. . . What the. . . how. . . what??? I can’t wait to see what this USA Day has to
offer. I start finalizing details such
as attire and train schedules.

July 6, 2013. The weather.com intern may be receiving a
full-time job offer. The weather, as
predicted, is gorgeous on Saturday morning.
My family arrives in Voorburg dressed in red, white, and blue attire
(well, Baby Girl insisted on wearing
her pink tropical flower dress V recently purchased in the States. I shrug, and figure she could represent the Hawaiian
Islands). We meander through
the early-morning mingling and I instantly feel at home in the little
town. Maybe it was because of the red,
white, and blue bunting hanging across the pedestrian road (it certainly wasn’t
the mechanical bull on the sidewalk) but it feels like a small-.

town American
downtown. Store-front windows dressed to
attract, brick streets, and a cozy garden in front of the government buildings
all made me think I had stepped back in time to America: 1950

Dutch girls attempting to spin cotton candy

We stroll down the
road eyeing the vendors popping popcorn and attempting to spin cotton candy
onto a stick (and later laugh at discarded fluffy cloud sticking to and out of
a sidewalk trash bin. . . I guess the Dutch, for all their love of candy, are
not fans of the disintegrating pink sugary mess . . . ) The town baker sells doughnuts and apple
pies. We clap along with the marching
band, and then, to my utter excitement – a colorguard team, languidly waving
their flags, lead the band through the streets (Look, Baby Girl! Mama used to do that in high school and at
Baylor!) The marching band is followed
by a parade of antique American cars including a Cadillac Sedan de Ville
1956.

A small stage is
set-up in front of the church and Voorburg government buildings. We listen attentively to speeches from representatives
of Temecula as well as the Ambassador of the U.S.
located in The Hague. We snap photos of V and Baby Girl along side
the antique army jeep (driven by a nice young Dutch man wearing a U.S.A.
army uniform).

U.S. Ambassador & Voorburg Mayor

The sun is
reaching a quite-warm stage of the day.
My entire family is starting to sweat and I relish the unfamiliar beads
of moisture appearing on my arms as if they were photographs of my
childhood. To further my quest of a
synchronized, long nap time (we’ve got to prepare for the BBQ!) I spot an array
of small American children’s games nestled inside a hedged courtyard. Plastic horseshoes fly through the air while
bean bags are hurled toward small plastic cans set up on t.v. tray. With this blog post in mind, I put on an
imaginary reporter’s hat and start to chat to a couple of the teenagers
entertaining the children. I quickly
discover that a large part of the sister-city relationship is a student
exchange between Temecula and Voorburg every two years. 50 students from Voorburg (and surrounding
areas) submitted a motivation letter and were interviewed. The beaming girls I was speaking to were two
of the 24 students who were selected for the program, which meant they would be
visiting Temecula in June 2014. She excitedly
continued to explain that 24 students from Temecula would be visiting and
staying in their homes during next March. (My first thought – oh my goodness,
those poor California kids are
going to freeze. But second thought – well, their adrenaline
and excitement of a once-in-a-lifetime-trip might keep

Classic Car Parade at USA Day

them warm, too.) Their enthusiasm for the program was
contagious. I couldn’t help but gush to
them about how beautiful Temecula is and to share my personal story of my
brother’s upcoming nuptials to this audience who (at least pretended) to
care. I congratulated them both on their
acceptance into the program and again, expressed my appreciation for this fantastic
travel and cultural experience hosted by the two cities. Little Man is knocking down all the red,
white and blue plastic cans out of the corner of my eye. He’s not using the bean bags though – he’s
bulldozing the TV tray. Another privileged
Dutch student is trying to corral the disaster while V helps her. They seem to have everything (relatively?)
under control. I’m hyper with excitement
as I shout over to V – “I’m going to try and catch one of the representatives
from Temecula!” and he raises a hand and nods distractedly.

I find an
approachable red-headed woman smiling and standing off to the side as the
Ambassador and Voorburg Mayor chat to each other. I feel a bit like a goofball, but I also know
what it’s like to stand in a sea of Dutch-speaking people. I introduce myself and like I thought she
might, she lit up with happiness at

meeting another American in a foreign
country. She told me that she wasn’t
with the government stuff, but rather, she was in charge of the exchange
program. We swapped a few stories and
she invited me to call her next time I was in Temecula, which I thought was
really sweet. My kids’ (and husband’s)
energy levels fading, I wished her good-luck with thanks for the conversation
and my family departed USA Day complete with an (American) patriotic feeling.

Once settled back
at home, between putting the kids to nap time, prepping the mojitos, and
starting the grill, I quickly researched Voorburg day in Temecula: October
26, 2013 (the weekend before my brother’s wedding). We will probably just miss the festivities,
but I hope that there’s at least one Dutch person who has been to Voorburg
wandering amongst the crowd.

Baby Girl, V, and Little Man in Voorburg

Although the
fireworks didn’t blast, the entire day was one of the most memorable Independence
Day celebrations I’ve experienced. I’ve
put the American flags away until next year, but I am happy to report that the
sun is still shining.

For more information about the Voorburg-Temecula Sister city
associations and how to support education and cultural awareness – please see
the following:

About Me

Celeste is an American expat who has been living in Leiden, The Netherlands since January 2012. She made the leap from Texas with her husband, two small children, and two large dogs. She's an ex-accountant who has adapted to her new role as full-time-Mom (with a part-time job) in a new country. Eleanor Roosevelt's advice, "Do one thing every day that scares you," isn't necessarily optional in her daily life.